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Plot Summary
Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny
Depp) arrives in the British Navy base at Port Royal where pirates are
publicly hung as a deterrent to others.
Jack was the pirate captain of the Black Pearl.
His crew mutinied and left him to die on a small island but
Jack’s back and looking for a replacement ship.
As
luck would have it the Black Pearl sails into Port Royal and starts
blowing up the place with its cannons.
The pirates of the Black Pearl, lead by Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey
Rush), kidnap the governor’s daughter, Elizabeth Swann (Keira
Knightley). Captain Jack
teams up with local blacksmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and goes after
the Black Pearl and Captain Barbossa…
Review
This is an 18th
century swashbuckling pirate tale complete with hidden treasure, sword
fights, parrots and other pirate paraphernalia.
This is a real summer holiday blockbuster that hits the right note.
It has exciting action scenes, drama, humour, special effects, plot
and great performances. Everything
put together the movie is simply great entertainment. A true blockbuster worthy of my infrequent five star rating!
Kids or adult won’t get bored
as the movie moves along at a quick, action filled, pace and the story is
told in a light humorous way with funny scenes and lines throughout.
However young children might find some of the scenes a little
scary.
Just in case you think that you
have seen all this “pirate stuff” before there is a clever
supernatural element built into the story that keeps things interesting.
The crew of the Black Pearl have a secret that only becomes
apparent in the moonlight!
Johnny Depp plays Captain Jack
Sparrow and his funny over-the-top camp performance steals the show.
At first I thought that Captain Jack was going to be a really
annoying character but with the help of the funny script Depp pulled it
off and made this movie his own.
Orlando Bloom (The Lord Of The Rings - The Fellowship Of The Ring,
Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers) was also very good as honest Will Turner who goes after the Black
Pearl to save his feisty sweetheart, Elizabeth Swann, played by Keira
Knightley (Bend It Like Beckham).
There is also a great
supporting cast in the movie including Geoffrey Rush, Jonathan Pryce, Jack
Davenport and Mackenzie Crook.
By the way if you ever get
attacked by pirates ask for a “parley”.
Apparently, according to the pirate code, this allows you to an
audience with the Captain. Unfortunately
the Code is “really only a guideline” so they will probably kill you
anyway!
The Bottom Line:
A fantastic, lively, colourful, entertaining blockbuster.
Lasting Thoughts: “I’m
dishonest and you can always trust a dishonest man to be dishonest.
Honestly. You can’t trust a
honest man not to do something stupid!”
Pirate
Code says, “If a man falls behind he’s left behind”.
Reviewed by Niall
Quinn,
Premier Movie Reviews 2003
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